Three random packs

While at the card shop yesterday, I saw one of these peeking from behind the counter:

They’re the card shop exclusive “Biography of a Season” cards I mentioned a while ago, but I hadn’t been going to get them because my card shop wasn’t listed as a dealer on the initial release.

I was so glad to see the cards that I picked out three packs of hockey stuff to celebrate. When I got home, that excitement was met with a little disappointment. Upper Deck had shrunk wrap the free cards, so these had bent corners because the plastic was so tight. Oh well, I guess I shouldn’t complain about free cards, right? Plus I got three packs of cards. Who knows what surprises lie inside.

First up:

Did I get the one pack in the box that holds a signed jersey rookie? Let’s tear in and find out.

35 Henrik Lundvist

23 Peter Mueller
98 Corey Perry
49 Alex Tanguay

So no jersey, but I’ll be honest, I wasn’t really expecting it. I’ve only bought a few packs of stuff like this in my day, and I’ve never found the big hit insert. Not that I’m complaining. I’m just hoping that some kid who loves hockey is the one who gets it. Oh, and it’s one of his favorite players, too.

The design itself isn’t bad, although a little to kinetic for me. Those bands of light blue in the scan are actually shiny on the card itself and refract in their separate little bands. There’s nothing about it though that will leave me empty inside if I don’t track more of these down.

Pack number 2:

I wish they’d put a word bubble coming out of Crosby’s mouth there, so it would look like he was screaming about those rookie cards. The triple diamonds fall 1:8, the quads 1:24. Let’s see what I get:

62 Scott Hartnell
86 Teemu Selanne

56 Scott Gomez
81 Alexander Semin
46 Brian Gionta

They don’t scan very well at all, and they don’t appear as dark in real life as the image would suggest. Selanne’s a double diamond(note the 2 in the top box there), which fall 1:4. Woo hoo.

Upper Deck must have found a deal on silver foil for these. The background is foil. The bands on the top corners are added foil, and the players name and logos are all foil, too. The player is actually embossed on the card, which is a nice touch but the silhouette bleeds through the back on half the cards I pulled.

Finally:

I still really like this stuff, and I’m hoping it’s filled with cards I need.

It figures the one pack that doesn’t scream about something special inside would hold something special, huh?

Two things stand out about the card. First, the black mark on the swatch. If you squint, you can see it in the scan, right through the middle. It always makes me think puck, though it could be stick or even a factory marker. On the back, though, it mentions the swatch as “having been used in an official Capitals NHL game,” so all the speculation can be laid to rest on that. I’m not sure if the other Masterpieces jersey cards I have are that specific. I would have thought I’d have noticed if they were.

So a fun little diversion while others are busting their 2009 Topps cards already. I checked yesterday and found nothing, but maybe I’ll swing by tomorrow and see what they’ve got.